Pick-up trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) have grown substantially in popularity in recent years. One of the reasons for the rise in consumer interest in these types of vehicles is due to their increased cargo space and storage capacity. Typically, these vehicles have a tailgate at the rear of the vehicle which opens to provide a user with access to the rear cargo area of the vehicle. Pick-up trucks and SUVs in particular tend to have a relatively high ground clearance as compared to standard sized vehicles. As a result, it can often be difficult for an individual or pet to enter, exit or otherwise gain access to the rear cargo area of such a vehicle. Especially in the case of pick-up trucks and SUVs having a fold-down tailgate, entry and access to the rear cargo area of the vehicle is difficult.
Various attempts have been made to address this problem by providing a platform mountable to the rear of a vehicle. Several patents disclose steps that are coupled to the bumper, as opposed to the receiver hitch. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,254 issued to Tarvin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,754 issued to Hightower and U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,588 B1 issued to Varney et al. show steps that are mounted to the bumper of a vehicle. These devices require installation that is time consuming and require drilling holes and/or inserting pins through the bumper of a vehicle.
Other patents show step assemblies that are stored beneath the bumper of a vehicle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,484 B2 issued to Knodle et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,362 issued to Ludwick show hitch-mounted steps that can be rotated beneath the bumper for storage and rotated out for use. Objects stored beneath the bumper of a vehicle are much more likely to be damaged by coming into contact with the ground or debris. For this reason many spare tires, which were once stored beneath the vehicle have been moved inside vehicles or are mounted on vehicle tailgates to avoid this problem. In addition, a flat tire or uneven ground surface may make objects such as the Knodle and Ludwick steps, which are stored beneath the vehicle, inaccessible. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,475 issued to Dick discloses a multiple step attachment for a vehicle that, in the stored position, rests slightly below the bumper of the vehicle. In addition, the cumbersome design of the Dick multi-step invention requires deploying and storing the device in stages with the need to fold the steps up and down multiple times.
Several patents and patent applications disclose hitch-mounted steps that must be removed when not in use. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,086 B1 issued to Erickson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,204 B1 issued to Hehr, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2001/0035625 A1 filed by Debo and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0116938 A1 filed by Shields et al. disclose hitch-mounted steps that are fixedly coupled to the rear of the vehicle, thus necessitating their removal when not in use.
Several patents disclose steps that do not extend beyond a deployed tailgate of a vehicle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,086 B2 issued to Schlicht and U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,865 issued to Cannara et al. show steps that while, mounted to the vehicle hitch of a vehicle, do not extend sufficiently horizontally from the rear of the vehicle to be useful when a drop-down tailgate is lowered.
Therefore a need existed for a hitch-mounted step for a vehicle capable of being easily stored and deployed without the need to remove the step from the receiver hitch while at the same time being capable of extending beyond a deployed fold-down tailgate of a vehicle.